Egloshayle is now an area within the Wadebridge conurbation but was once a distinct settlement. The name Egloshayle is from the Cornish words eglos (meaning church) and heyl (meaning estuary) and is pronounced to reflect this ("eglos-hale" not "eglo-shale"). It was originally a Bronze Age settlement and later a river port, rivalling Padstow. The river trade is reported to include tin, clay, wool, and vegetable crops. The wool component of the trade may well be the origin of the name "Bridge on Wool" given to the bridge at Wadebridge.
Cowslips grow on chalky soils. Chalk is not found in Cornwall but a close approximation is a sand dune made up of fragments of chalky seashell. Cowslips can therefore be found in sandy soils along the coast, particularly on the inland edge of large dune systems such as Penhale Sands.
The name of the plant is thought to be from the Old English for cowpat (cow slop). Other common names including "Key of Heaven" and "Bunch of Keys" are based on the small flowers on the end of long stems.
Something you may have noticed is that all A and B road numbers in Cornwall start with the number 3. For A and B road numbering, England and Wales are divided up into 6 segments a bit like an orange, radiating out from London. Zone 3 covers the South West.
The garden centre car park is located where the North Cornwall line emerged from the Allen Valley before crossing the line of the road and joining the railway from Bodmin (now the Camel Trail).
The North Cornwall Railway was a venture backed by the London and South Western Railway to compete with the Great Western Railway for services to Cornwall. The North Cornwall line ran from Halwill in Devon to Padstow via Launceston, Camelford and Wadebridge and was built for economy rather than speed, including climbs and curves to avoid costly construction work. The line was opened in sections at the end of the 19th century, reaching Padstow in 1899. There was an aspiration to connect Wadebridge to Truro, but this was never realised. Due to holidaymakers increasingly travelling by car in the 1960s, demand for passenger services dwindled and the line was closed as part of the cuts in 1966.
The horse chestnut tree was introduced to Britain during Tudor times. Mature horse chestnut trees grow up to 40 metres tall and can live for up to 300 years. The association of conker trees with horses may be due to the horseshoe (complete with nail holes) shape of the leaf scars on the twigs.
The woodland is a mixture of broadleaf species including oak, sycamore and beech.
Young beech leaves can be used as a salad vegetable, which are described as being similar to a mild cabbage, though much softer in texture. Older leaves are a bit chewy, as you'd expect.
Beech trees can live up to 400 years but the normal range is 150-250 years. Beech trees respond well to pruning and the lifetime of the tree is extended when the tree is pollarded. This was once a common practice and involves cutting all the stems back to a height of about 6ft during the winter when the tree is dormant. The 6ft starting point kept the fresh new growth out of the range of grazing animals. When allowed to grow to full size, a beech tree can reach 80ft tall with a trunk diameter of around 3ft.
Bluebells are also known by folk names based on their shape including Lady’s Nightcap and Witches’ Thimbles.
Other common names for the bluebell include "wild hyacinth" and "wood hyacinth" as they are related to the hyacinth family. Their Genus name Hyacinthoides also means "hyacinth-like".
Badgers have created setts beneath some of the tree roots in the banks on the sides of the valley.
Badgers are most closely related to otters and weasels, but are omnivores and often catch their food by burrowing after it. Up until the 1950s, somewhat prior to the Gastro-pub revolution, many Westcountry pubs had Badger Ham on the bar!
Due to their relatively large body size, badgers are susceptible to the same pathogens as domestic livestock, and so badgers and cattle can catch tuberculosis from each other. In recent years, there has been controversy over badger culling as an attempted means to control the spread of bovine TB. The conclusions of the scientific trials of 2007 were that badger culling was not effective. One reason is that culling creates vacant territories and causes other badgers to roam more widely, continuing a spread. In 2010, a TB vaccine was produced which is hoped will prove more effective than culling, as a band of vaccinated badgers will act like a firewall, blocking a spread.
The Rivel Allen is a major tributary of the River Camel, joining it just above the estuary near Wadebridge. It was known as the Dowr Alen in Cornish, which is documented as meaning "shining river". There is also a River Allen in Truro, although that one is Dowr Lain in Cornish, so as long as you speak Cornish, you won't get them confused!.
An adit is a roughly horizontal tunnel going into a mine. In Cornwall these were important for drainage as many of the ore-bearing veins are close to vertical, through which water can easily seep. Drainage adits were sloped slightly upwards to meet the main shaft, so water trickling into the main shaft from above could be diverted out of the adit. Below the adit, engines powered by waterwheels or steam were needed to pump the water up to the level of the adit where it could then drain away.
The bright orange colour of the stream bed leading from the adit is due to iron compounds which also occur in the lodes which were mined.
When the acidic solution containing dissolved metals from mines (known as Acidic Mine Drainage) meets other water, it is diluted and the reduced acidity causes dissolved iron to precipitate out as orange or yellow hydroxides, colouring the water and sticking to anything in the watercourse. In the case of copper mines, copper stays dissolved in the water and at higher levels this can be toxic to wildlife, particularly fish.
Where there is a large amount of water coming from a mine which is not rendered harmless by natural dilution, reed beds have been found to be very effective in treating the acidic water. Plants and bacteria in the reed bed convert the dissolved metals into insoluble compounds that are trapped within the reed bed. There are even suggestions that the metals may be commercially recoverable after they have been concentrated in the reed bed over a period of time.
The building on the right is Hingham Mill. As you reach the lane, the waterwheel is on your right, facing the lane.
Hingham Mill was mentioned in a document from 1420 as a fulling mill and recorded in another document from 1540. The current building dates from the 18th Century and still retains the working machinery for grinding corn. It is unusual for a mill in Cornwall in that the waterwheel is not fed from above. This is probably because a large volume of water was available from the River Allen so there was plenty of flow to drive an undershot wheel.
Overshot wheels can achieve higher efficiencies than undershot wheels and can operate using a smaller volume of water which explains why they were generally preferred, particularly in steep-sided Cornish valleys.
A 2004 Civil Engineering publication concluded that high energy conversion efficiencies (of around 85-90%) were possible from overshot waterwheels and that if these can be manufactured cheaply, they could provide an environmentally sound means of small-scale electricity production.
The area around the bridleway is a delicate SSSI due to rare flora and fauna including endangered orchids and protected newts therefore take nothing apart from pictures and leave nothing apart from footprints.
Lemail Mill is marked as "disused" on the Ordnance Survey map but in fact is disused to the point of not existing any more. However, in the river, there are weirs, leats and clapper bridges that were associated with the mill. Also the river channel running under the wooden footbridge, that is fed from above the weir, is a man-made watercourse that runs to Hingham Mill to drive the waterwheel there.
Note that the bridges and weirs are all on private land with no public right of way and there are ground-nesting birds in the area so keep dogs under tight control.
Like its domesticated relatives, wild garlic grows from a bulb. To distinguish it from other wild plants from the onion/garlic family (such as the three-cornered leek), the species sometimes just called "wild garlic" (Allium ursinum) is often known by the name ramsons or broad-leaf garlic. The scientific name (meaning bear leek) is because the bulbs are thought to be a favourite food of brown bears on the European mainland.
The deep pools created by the weirs make it a good spot for trout which can grow up to a foot long in the River Allen.
Small trout typically feed on invertebrates whereas larger trout generally feed on other fish but have been known to eat anything of a suitable size unlucky enough to fall into a river. In fact in New Zealand, mouse-shaped lures are sold for trout fishing!
Squirrels assess each of their acorns before burying them. If an acorn is too light (which suggests it might have a hole), the squirrel will eat it immediately rather than risking it going mouldy.
Snowdrops flower here in the early spring.
Snowdrops are a member of the onion family. Although it is often thought of as a native British wild flower, the snowdrop was probably introduced in Tudor times, around the early sixteenth century.
The formation of most of the world's coal deposits from wood occurred during a single geological period suitably-named the Carboniferous. It was postulated that this might be because white rot hadn't evolved by then so dead wood just accumulated. However, it's now thought more likely to be due to the formation of particularly deep swamps from the crust-buckling collisions of tectonic plates in this period which allowed wood both to accumulate in a low-oxygen environment and then be compressed into coal.
Garlic mustard is a member of the cabbage family. It is edible and the leaves tastes mildly of garlic but become more bitter as they mature.
It is also known as hedge garlic or Jack-by-the-hedge as it likes shady places. The "Jack" is a reference to the devil (probably by someone not a fan of garlic).
The young leaves look a bit like stinging nettles but are brighter green. As the leaves get larger, they get less toothed and are more heart-shaped. It has white flowers in April and early May with 4 small petals forming a cross.
At the bottom of the hill, the lane crosses the River via Dinham's bridge, which was built in early Victorian times to provide a link between the parishes of St Mabyn and St Kew, and lies exactly on the parish boundary. The walk route is within the St Kew parish.
The name stitchwort dates from mediaeval times when it is likely to have been believed that it had powers to cure an exercise-induced stitch. Other common names for Greater Stitchwort include "star-of-Bethlehem" (due to the shape and perhaps Easter flowering time) and "poor-man's buttonhole" for budget weddings. It is also known as "wedding cakes" but that may be more due to the colour than anticipation of what a buttonhole might lead to. The seed capsules can sometimes be heard bursting open in the late spring sunshine which gives rise to names such as "snapdragon" and "popguns".
The word "farm" has the same origins as (e.g. law) "firm". Both words are related to the mediaeval Latin word firma meaning "fixed payment". Its original use in English was to do with contracts and leasing (which is why "to farm out" means "to subcontract"). In fact the word "farm" had no association with food production until the 19th Century. In the 16th Century it began to be applied to leasing of land and the association with farmland developed from this.
As you go through the gate, the pair of banks on the right-hand side of the road are the remains of Castle Killibury.
Mediaeval Welsh manuscripts mention King Arthur as "chief prince in Celliwig in Cerniw". Castle Killibury, also known as Kelly Rounds, is one likely candidate for "Celliwig" ("Cerniw" being Cornwall). There is evidence that site was occupied during the Bronze and Iron ages and also during Arthur's time. Originally it had a pair of circular ramparts with a square annex on one side. Half of it was flattened to build a farm so now a pair of semi-circular banks are all that remain on the opposite side of the road from the farm.
The Three Hole Cross, next to the A39 between St Kew Highway and Wadebridge, dates from the mediaeval period. It was intended as a 4-holed cross but one of the holes was never completed. The cross was reported as damaged and repaired during Victorian times, and was moved slightly to its present location in the early 20th Century when the road was improved.
Christianity in Roman Britain began in the 4th or 5th century AD. However there were no known cities west of Exeter, so the spread into Cornwall is likely to have been very limited. The majority of Cornwall is likely to have remained Pagan until "The Age of Saints" - the late 5th or early 6th century - when the Irish missionaries including St Piran and St Petroc settled in Cornwall.
The Ramblers Association and National Farmers Union suggest some "dos and don'ts" for walkers which we've collated with some info from the local Countryside Access Team.
Do
Don't
Over the hedge to the right is an area of bushes in the middle of the field. This is the remains of the Tregorden Mine where lead and silver were extracted.
The lead ore found in Cornwall is a form of lead sulphide known as galena which often contains an appreciable amount of silver. This was first smelted to produce "argentiferous lead" and then the silver was separated by a process known as "cupellation". The molten alloy of the 2 metals was placed in an oxygen rich furnace which caused the lead, but not the silver, to oxidise. The lead oxide was then absorbed into a calcium-rich material such as the ash from bones or seashells, leaving the liquid metal silver on the surface of the "cake". The lead oxide could later be converted back into lead by smelting it with charcoal.
The metallic minerals associated with outcrops of granite tend to occur in bands which radiate out from the granite outcrop. A band of tin deposits usually occurs closest to the granite, then beyond this a band containing copper ore. A band of zinc and lead deposits is commonly found further away from the granite, with just iron at the furthest extreme. The reason for the banding is that the deposition of each mineral occurs within a specific temperature range. Granite starts as a molten blob of magma which cools very slowly and provides a source of heat. The temperature of water in the cracks in the neighbouring rock therefore decreases with increasing distance from the hot granite.
The settlement is known as Ball after the Cornish word bal.
Many Cornish mines have names starting with Wheal, and it is a common misconception that Wheal meant "mine". In fact, Wheal simply meant "workplace". The word for "mine" was bal and the women who worked on the surface were known as Bal Maids.
The route between Launceston and Truro on the A30, A395 (through Davidstow), A39 (through Camelford and Wadebridge) and A30 again (through St Columb and Mitchell) is the remains of a mediaeval cart track known as the Royal Cornish Way. It entered Cornwall via Polston Bridge which is thought to have been built soon after the Norman conquerors had built a castle at Launceston.
Despite its grand title, the Royal Cornish Way was a notoriously bad road not only for its still-famous potholes but in some places no road surface at all (just mud). Provided the sea was calm, it was generally thought preferable to transport cargo by boat.
A well-known country remedy for the stings of nettles is to rub the sore area with the leaf of a dock plant. A common misconception is that dock leaves are alkaline and neutralise the acids in the nettle sting but, in reality, docks contain a mild (oxalic) acid and nettle stings aren't caused by the acid content anyway. Although dock is claimed by some to contain a natural antihistamine, no scientific evidence has been found for this. It is thought that it is simply the rubbing and moisture in the leaf which provides a short-term relief/distraction whilst the sting itself is diminishing over time. It's possible it may also dislodge any stinging spikes left in the surface of the skin. Therefore almost any moist leaf should provide a little relief, with the exception of another nettle leaf!
In order to attract pollinating insects, the plant heats the flower spike up to 15°C above that of the surroundings. The plant exudes a smell of decaying flesh which attracts flies and the flower is designed to trap these. Within the flower, the female organs mature first and insects carrying pollen from other plants (together with any unlucky enough not to be) are imprisoned behind a row a spines within the flower. Once the plant is pollinated, the male organs quickly mature and the plant's own pollen is dusted over the trapped flies. The spines then wither away enough for the flies to escape.
All members of the lily family, including wild arum, are poisonous to dogs.
The biggest discrepancy between distance shown in fitness apps and true distance on the ground comes from an app trying to measure distance by accumulating GPS positions. Since each GPS reading on a consumer device contains several metres of error, the accumulation of errors over the whole walk causes an overestimation of distance of around 10-20%. By contrast, the iWalk Cornwall app gives a more accurate measure of distance along the route because it already knows the exact route in advance so it doesn't need to accumulate GPS positions to measure distance along the route. Some locals might choose to summarise this as: "it's because the fitness app is an emmet".
Whilst the global human population is around 8 billion, the insect population is estimated at around 10 quintillion. In other words, there are in the order of a billion insects for every human.
The Earl Of St Vincent Inn is about 50 metres along the lane to the left. It dates from the 18th Century and is grade II listed. The interior is described by English Heritage as "unaltered and unspoiled with late 18th Century and 19th Century timber partitions".
Egloshayle is the parish north of the River Camel in Wadebridge with the large church. The parish church is dedicated to St Petroc and is built almost entirely in the Perpendicular Gothic style (typical of the 13th and 14th centuries). The font is older, dating back to Norman times. The stone pulpit is a little later, dating from the 15th century.
The bell-ringers of the village are celebrated in the song "The Ringers of Egloshayle". The ringers named in the song are all buried in the churchyard; their names may be seen on the headstones.
Grain for animal feed was ground using millstones made from readily-available Cornish granite which tended to shed pieces of grit that would make flour unfit for human consumption. Fine flour used for baking was milled using millstones made of imported French quartz or limestone.
Wood anemones can be recognised by their white star-like flowers growing in shady locations during the spring. Hoverflies are important pollinators of the plant so you may also see these nearby. Avoid touching the plants as they are poisonous to humans and can cause severe skin irritation.
The anemones grow from underground stems (rhizomes) and spread very slowly - to spread by six feet takes about 100 years! This makes it a good indicator of ancient woodland.
There are several species of Woodrush in the UK that all look fairly similar. They are most noticeable in woodland where they often form dense mats - hence the name.
Woodrush has green pointed leaves which can be mistaken for bluebell leaves when there are no flowers to provide an obvious difference (woodrush flowers are unexciting small brown things that look a bit like grass seed). To tell the leaves apart, woodrush leaves taper steadily to a sharp point whereas bluebell leaves are relatively straight for most of their length and only taper near the end (like a broadsword). Bluebell leaves are also slightly blue-green whereas woodrush is a glossy vibrant green.
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